Learn Hardcore Japanese: syuumatu ni tomodati to kafe de koohii wo nomimasu. - I drink coffee at a café with a friend on the weekend.

The full version could be 私は週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
But 私 (I) is usually dropped in everyday speech if everyone already knows you’re talking about yourself.
The sentence still naturally means “I will drink coffee …” unless context clearly indicates someone else.

So the sentence is grammatically complete without explicitly saying “I.”

What does each particle (に, と, で, を) do in this sentence?

Here’s the breakdown:

週末に – に marks a point in time: “on/at the weekend”.
友達と – と here means “with”: “with a friend / with friends”.
カフェで – で marks the place where an action happens: “at a café”.
コーヒーを – を marks the direct object of the verb: “(I) drink coffee.”

So the structure is:
[time-に] [person-と] [place-で] [object-を] [verb]
= On the weekend, with a friend, at a café, (I) drink coffee.

Is に after 週末 always necessary? Could I just say 週末友達と…?

You will most often see 週末に when talking about a specific weekend as a point in time.

週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
“I will drink coffee with a friend at a café on the weekend.”

If you drop に, it’s not wrong in casual speech, but it can sound a bit less natural or slightly vague, especially for learners. Some patterns:

週末に – natural for a particular weekend (this coming weekend, for example).
週末は – topic: “As for weekends, I (usually) …” (habit or contrast).
週末 (alone) – can appear in conversation, but adding に is safer and clearer for “on the weekend”.

So, keep に for now, especially when you mean “at/on (this) weekend” as a one-time event.

What exactly does と after 友達 mean here? Is it “and” or “with”?

と has several uses, and two common ones are:

Listing nouns:
- 猫と犬 = “cats and dogs”
Companion/partner for an action:
- 友達と行きます。 = “I will go with a friend.”

In 友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます, 友達と uses the companion meaning, so it means “with a friend / with friends.”

Context usually makes it clear whether と means “and” or “with.” Here, because we have an action (drink) and a person, it’s “with”.

Why is it カフェで and not カフェに?

Both で and に can relate to places, but they’re used differently:

で = place where an action happens
- カフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
  “I will drink coffee at a café.” (The drinking happens there)
に = destination / location of existence / time
- カフェに行きます。 – “I will go to a café.” (destination)
- カフェにいます。 – “I am at a café.” (state/existence)

In this sentence, the main action is 飲みます (to drink), and that action happens at the café, so you use で, not に.

Can I leave out を after コーヒー, like in casual speech?

In very casual conversation, native speakers sometimes drop を, especially in short sentences or when the object is obvious:

Casual: コーヒー飲む？ – “(Wanna) drink coffee?”
Casual: 何飲む？ – “What (will you) drink?”

However:

In a full, polite sentence like
週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます,
you should keep を.
Dropping を here sounds too casual or slightly sloppy for the polite form.

As a learner, it’s better to always use を in complete sentences until you’re very comfortable with casual speech patterns.

How flexible is the word order? Can I rearrange the parts like in English?

Japanese word order is more flexible than English, but there are rules:

The verb almost always comes at the end.
The blocks [noun + particle] can move around before the verb.

These are all acceptable (with slight differences in emphasis):

週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
友達と週末にカフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
カフェで友達と週末にコーヒーを飲みます。

What you put earlier tends to get a bit more emphasis or be treated as background information. But:

You cannot move the verb away from the end:
✕ 飲みます週末に友達と… (unnatural)
You must keep each particle with its noun:
✕ 週末友達とに… (wrong)

So: [phrase + particle] blocks can move, but the verb stays last.

Does 飲みます mean present or future? How do I say “will drink” vs “drink”?

Japanese does not have a separate future tense like English.

飲みます can mean:
- present habitual: “I (usually) drink”
- future: “I will drink”
- scheduled/near future: “I’m going to drink (later/on X day)”

Context and time expressions decide the nuance:

毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。
“I drink coffee every morning.” (habit)
明日コーヒーを飲みます。
“I will drink coffee tomorrow.” (future)
週末にコーヒーを飲みます。
With 週末に, it’s naturally understood as “I will drink coffee on the weekend.”

What politeness level is 飲みます? When would I use 飲む instead?

飲みます is polite form (ます-form). Use it:
- With strangers
- In most workplaces
- In class, with teachers
- In general polite conversation
飲む is plain (dictionary) form. Use it:
- With close friends
- With family (often)
- In casual messages, notes, diaries
- In dictionaries and grammar explanations

So:

Polite: 週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲みます。
Casual: 週末に友達とカフェでコーヒーを飲む。

Same meaning, different level of politeness.

Does 友達 mean “friend” or “friends”? How do I show singular or plural?

友達 (ともだち) itself does not distinguish singular vs plural. It can mean:

“a friend”
“my friend”
“friends”
“my friends”

Context tells you which is intended. If you really want to emphasize plural, you can sometimes say:

友達たち – “friends” (used, but not for every noun naturally)
友達みんな – “all (my) friends”
何人かの友達 – “some friends”
友達二人と – “with two friends”

In everyday conversation, 友達と飲みます is usually understood as either “with a friend” or “with my friends” depending on context, and that’s usually enough.

Does カフェ mean the same thing as “café” in English? How is it different from 喫茶店?

カフェ is a loanword from French/English “café” and usually has a more modern, Western, stylish feel.

カフェ:
- Often modern or trendy coffee shops, dessert cafés, etc.
- Can also include places that serve light meals.
喫茶店 (きっさてん):
- More traditional Japanese-style coffee/tea shops.
- Sometimes feels older, nostalgic, or classic.

In everyday speech, especially among younger people, カフェ is more common.
Your sentence sounds like:

“I’ll drink coffee at a (modern) café with a friend on the weekend.”

How do I pronounce コーヒー and what do the long vowels mean?

コーヒー is pronounced roughly as “kooh-hee”:

コー – “ko” with a long ‘o’ sound
ヒー – “hi” with a long ‘i’ (ee) sound

In katakana:

The ー mark lengthens the preceding vowel:
- コ + ー → “koo”
- ヒ + ー → “hee”

Vowel length can change meaning in Japanese, so it’s important:

おばさん – “aunt / middle-aged woman”
おばあさん – “grandmother / old woman”

So try to clearly lengthen the vowels in コーヒー when you say this sentence.